1. Field of the Invention
The present disclosure relates generally to a vacuum cleaner for both vacuum cleaning and steam cleaning. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to a suction brush, which can perform both vacuum cleaning using a suction force and steam cleaning including steam spray on a surface to be cleaned and wiping of the steamed surface.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, a vacuum cleaner, and particularly, a canister type vacuum cleaner, is composed of a main body and a brush, which are separably connected together through a connection tube and a flexible hose, and performs cleaning so as to draw in dust and other foreign materials through the brush, along with the operation of a motor, a filter, and so forth, installed in the main body.
A conventional vacuum cleaner collects dust existing on a surface to be cleaned through a suction brush by using a suction force generated by a suction motor installed in the main body, filters air drawn-in with the dust, and discharges the filtered gas to outside.
However, the vacuum cleaner as described above performs cleaning through the suction only, and thus it is difficult to remove dirt or stains stuck on the floor, tile, window, and so forth, using the vacuum cleaner. Accordingly, it is required to directly wipe the dirty region with a wed duster in addition to the vacuum cleaning using the vacuum cleaner, and this causes a user inconvenience.
In order to solve this problem, Korean Patent Registration No. 470320 discloses a steam cleaner that has a vacuum cleaning function and performs both vacuum suction cleaning and steam cleaning at a time. This conventional cleaner for both the steam cleaning and vacuum cleaning is provided with a vacuum suction cleaning part installed in a front portion of the cleaner to draw-in and collect dust, and a steam cleaning part installed in the rear portion of the cleaner to directly spray steam on a duster that rotates to wipe the dirty floor.
However, according to the conventional cleaner, duster rotating plates are inserted into the bottom surface of the brush. In order to attach/detach dusters to/from the rotating plates, a user must turn the heavy brush over so that the bottom surface of the brush is turned upward and then detach the dusters from the rotating plates.
Also, a water storage tank for supplying water to a steam generating means is non-detachably buried in the brush. Thus, a user can see the water remaining in the water tank only through a narrow inlet of the water tank, when the cap of the tank is removed. Accordingly, it is difficult for the user to accurately grasp the amount of water remaining in the water tank and to recognize when to refill the water tank.
In addition, since the conventional cleaner is of a water tank heating type, a long preheating time for preheating the water, e.g., at least two to four minutes, is required to perform the steam cleaning. Also, since the water always remains in the heater for generating the steam, the heater may corrode or a steam spray nozzle of the heater may be choked due to mold forming in the remaining water.
In addition, any safety device for interrupting the power supply to the heater when the heater is overheated is not provided, and this may cause the damage of a product or the occurrence of fire due to the overheat of the heater.